In the process of manufacturing semiconductor products or flat-panel displays (FPDs), a liquid process has been frequently used which supplies a process-liquid to a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate as a substrate to be processed. Examples of such a process include a cleaning process of removing particles or contaminants adhering to the substrate and the like.
As a liquid processing apparatus performing the liquid process, there have been known a plurality of single-wafer-type processing units, each of which holds a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer with a spinning chuck and performs a process on the substrate by supplying a process-liquid to the front or rear surface of the rotating substrate.
The process-liquid supplied to the substrate throws off from the rotating substrate and is changed into mist scattering around a substrate placement table. As a mechanism recovering the mist, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-183010 discloses a chemical liquid recovery cup and a rinse liquid recovery cup.
As shown in FIG. 7, the existing mechanism has a configuration in which a chemical liquid recovery cup 115 and a rinse liquid recovery cup 116 are segmented by an intermediate cup wall 130 and the intermediate cup wall 130 is configured to be able to be moved up and down by an air cylinder 132.
When the air cylinder 132 contracts so that the intermediate cup wall 130 is located at the down position (the state of FIG. 7), an opening 115a of the chemical liquid recovery cup 115 increases in size so that it faces a peripheral edge of a substrate W on a spinning chuck 111. In this state, a chemical liquid process is performed, and the chemical liquid (and mist thereof) throwing off from the substrate W is recovered in the chemical liquid recovery cup 115.
On the other hand, when the air cylinder 132 expands so that the intermediate cup wall 130 is located at the up position, an opening 116a of the rinse liquid recovery cup 116 increases in size so that it faces the peripheral edge of the substrate W on the spinning chuck 111. In this state, a rinse liquid process is performed, and the rinse liquid (and mist thereof) throwing off from the substrate W is recovered in the rinse liquid recovery cup 116.